Dixie Virginia Carter: May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010
As a southern woman striving to succeed in an industry that tends to marginalize my kind, actress Dixie Carter was/is a hero of mine. She was never afraid to be just what she was: a strong-yet-gentile, sassy-yet-kind, intelligent, feminine, southern belle. On the contrary, she embraced herself.
Arriving in New York to pursue a stage career, this Tennessee Belle ignored the jokes of naysayers and ended up being warmly received in the highbrow culture of Broadway. As she entered her 40s, Dixie also found success in Los Angeles – a town not exactly known for welcoming any female over the age of 30. By the time she took the role of Julia Sugarbaker on the television series Designing Women, Dixie’s reputation as a woman who represented the real south had taken hold. And boy did she show us all how to kick a few butts without ever raising her foot off the ground!
Watch and learn:
Dixie Carter on InnerVIEWS:
